House proposal would release Criminal Aliens onto the streets

Many law enforcement groups, including the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, oppose the House’s criminal justice reform legislation. This proposal would release thousands of dangerous criminal aliens onto the streets. Please do all you can to make sure it doesn’t become law unless it excludes non-citizens.

Organizations whose members are tasked with keeping Americans safe are opposed to this legislation. These organizations include:

The National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition;

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association;

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association;

The National Sheriffs’ Association;

The Major County Sheriff’s Association; and

The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys.

These groups oppose the House proposal because it would release criminal aliens back onto our streets. The Southwest border region would be particularly at risk. 85% of all federal drug possession convictions occur along the Southwest border. To make matters worse, 77% of all federal drug possession convictions are handed down to non-citizens. Many of these criminal aliens belong to violent drug gangs like MS-13. On top of this, 25% of all federal trafficking convictions are handed down to non-citizen aliens. Releasing these criminal aliens en masse would harm countless communities.

Steven Wassermann, of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, recently said:

“It is also important to note that a large portion of the federal prison population for both drug offenses and immigration offenses consist of undocumented aliens. Accordingly, the failure to address border security and immigration is arguably a much more aggravating factor in driving the federal prison population than drug prosecutions generally. Rather than simply going soft on dangerous felons as a way to reduce the prison population, it would seem that fixing immigration and border security would be a safer and more effective means of reducing the prison population.”

According to data from the Bureau of Prisons, 77% of federal drug possession convictions and more than 25% of federal drug trafficking convictions in FY15 were of non-citizens. As the NAAUSA notes, many of these criminal aliens would be released from prison.

The House proposal is not an effective way to reduce our prison population and I urge you to oppose in its current form.